


The Solider Initiative

by feelingsofelation



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, F/M, Hydra (Marvel), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-14 23:50:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7196426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feelingsofelation/pseuds/feelingsofelation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three things can categorize the year 1989: Star Wars, Sex, and the beginning of the end of the world. As people lived jaded, mellow lives, Hydra began their mission to infiltrate the world, one family at a time. Through longing mothers, desperate fathers, broken homes, and open arms, Hydra welcomed themselves into thousands of households. Hydra Fertility helped birth thousands that year, but little did the world know, they had just helped deliver a whole new kind of army.  </p><p>In 1989, Selah Tripe was born to a single mother in a small home in Ohio. In 2010, she was offered a top level writing position in Washington, D.C. Home of the capitol, and home of Hydra. </p><p>She had called the opportunity fate, a chance of luck drawn by the mere fact that she had worked hard to get there.  They had called it “starting the process.”  </p><p>In 2014, Selah Tripe was activated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Solider Initiative

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! So this is the first of about five or six chapters in this story. Be aware, they are long chapters, very much so, but I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> I'm a bit new to this whole thing, so bear with me as we get this ball a' rollin'.

It had been decided years prior to Selah Tripe’s birth that she was meant to be anything aside from ordinary.

At the age of twenty-two, Andrea Tripe was married off to none other than William Bass, who, after many years of trying to have a child together, found out that he was infertile. The couple searched for three years after that, attempting to locate the correct donor that fit their family needs perfectly, but at the time, things didn’t work out. The couple became stressed, Andrea began to blame her husband for their lack of a warm household, and they divorced soon after.

She spent two lone years trying to understand what the meaning of life was, who she was meant to be, and what would make her happy once more. It had been more than just fate on the day, once a year, that she visited her gynecologist, that she would find a single business card left next to her purse.

HYDRA FERTILITY

Bring us one of your eggs and we’ll double your chance of having kids!

Your Children Are the Future

HydraFertility.com

(777) 521-9500

Andrea gave the number a call on the off chance that she might get lucky. After three months of tests, twenty donated eggs, and nine months of waiting and taking care of herself, she gave birth to a small, tiny baby girl, with light blonde hair and plain brown eyes. Andrea couldn’t help but think that the little girl looked nothing like her, but she wiped that thought away the moment the small girl cried and Andrea hushed her, “Shh, my angel, no one will hurt you.”

Andrea raised her child without any knowledge of what went on with her eggs prior to her procedure, unknowing that she had been graced with a daughter that had been given a gene unknown to the common scientific community. An artificial gene that would remain dormant until activated.

Selah was raised with grace and understanding of the workings of the world. She accepted all for who they were, no matter genetics or otherwise. As she got older, year after year, Andrea began to realize that her daughter was more than just her “small little girl,” but rather, a certified genius that had a keen act in problem solving.

She grew up to become the top in her graduating class and received the high school certification of “Most Likely to Succeed and Take over the World,” as voted by her senior class. She went on to later graduate college at the top of her class from Northwestern, majoring in Journalism with a minor in detective services.

After graduation, she and her mom packed their bags and moved to Washington, D.C. to live in a small house on the edge of the nation’s capital. Selah had been offered a job as a writer for the D.C. Tribune, writing articles about pop culture and the “latest and greatest to grace the earth,” as described by her boss.

So, just as any other day, Selah woke up with one mission.

To not quit her job.

“Mom? We’ve got no orange juice!” Selah grabbed the milk from the refrigerator and sighed softly, not getting an immediate response from her parent, “Mom?”

“Okay, I’ll grab some on my way home today, dear. Don’t forget, tonight is pasta night, so don’t be late, okay?”

Selah walked around the corner and back in the living room to see her mother reading a book on the couch, “Yes mom, I know.” A smile unfolded on the blonde’s face, “I won’t be late. Never am.” She grabbed her bag from the couch nearest the door, “Love you!”

“Love you too, dear!”

* * *

Life had become a bit of a routine for Selah since graduating college. Her job had become more of a chore than something she had enjoyed. At this time in her life she was paying more bills than her mother, and the stories that she wrote for the D.C Tribune were nothing but fabricated fluff about people Selah had begun to resent, although she had never really known them.

Simply put, her life had become comfortable, casual, and methodic.

One would think that she would be writing thought-provoking articles- top news worthy stories- because of the mere fact that S.H.I.E.L.D’s headquarters was based right across the street from her. The Triskelion was a giant eyesore that she had come to both love and hate, simply for its beauty and the power that it held.

At this point, she knew the building back and forth, for all the times that she had been there, interviewing any of the Avengers with pointless questions like “What’s your favorite food?”, “What’s your favorite color?”, and “Where would you love to vacation?” The interviews had been nothing short but embarrassing, but she had them published and her name was splashed under each and every one of the titles.

She knew that the eagle-like symbol planted somberly in the middle of the courtyard was like a bulls-eye on a target, just waiting to be hit. Out of the three years that Selah had worked for the D.C. Tribune, she had never seen anyone in the office look twice in the building’s direction, and not once had she ever heard anyone in the office whisper anything of it aside from, “Bet Selah’s heading over there to write another article on Thor’s muscle diameter.” The building stood as if it didn’t exist, but in her window, it was nothing but a giant, unaware monstrosity, just waiting to be hit by the next wannabe super villain. As it had been before.  

Selah pushed the front doors open to her building, nodding at the doorman and smiling at one of her few friends in the office. Selah took a sip of her coffee as she unlocked the door to her office, squinting as the early morning light turned her office into a reflective mirror of sun.

“Selah!” She had just begun to unpack her belongings on her desk when her manager’s voice rang out, “My office. Ten minutes.”

“Good morning to you too, sir,” Selah mumbled and walked towards her windows, lowering the blinds slowly and watching with a crinkled brow as Captain America flew out of the gates of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s building on a sleek, black motorcycle.

She took one last sip of her coffee and changed into the heels under her desk before heading to the large, dark office down the hall.

“Sir? You asked to see me?”

Her boss cleared his throat and motioned for her to step in, clicking on a few more of the lights as he, himself got ready to start the day. “I see that you finished another article. You seem to be writing a lot faster these days.”

She nodded and shrugged her shoulders in response, “I’d rather get it done and move on than to let it just sit and simmer. In my defense, sir, these articles aren’t very much more than fabricated lies by celebrities and their publicists to keep their fans entertained. I swear to God, if I have to hear one more,” she threw her hands up and made air quotes, “Celebrity say that they’re just like everyone else, I’m going to throw my computer and my section across the room.”

Her boss laughed, “Selah, Selah, Selah, why do you always tend to bite the hand that feeds you? Now, I know you don’t like your section, but it’s your job, and while you do it well, you need to learn to not complain. _Anyways,”_ He cleared his throat once more and sat in the leather seat behind his large, mahogany desk. Selah remained against the man’s doorjamb, her arms crossed stiffly against her chest.

“I don’t-“ He glanced up at her and narrowed his eyes.

“As I was saying, before I was interrupted, one of our writers from the Breaking Times department has been put on medical leave. Seeing as you’re the only one in the office that gets things done quickly around here, I thought it might be nice to let you get an article that might make you work a little harder than usual. Of course, you’re still expected to finish your Culture article on time. “

Selah’s jaw had dropped, “You’re kidding? You’re letting me do a-“ Her boss held a finger up.

“Don’t get too excited. It’s not a feature. Apparently, there was a break in at S.H.I.E.L.D. two days ago. We have a few sources that have reported that they saw Captain America jump from a twenty story building. Not sure what it’s about, but find out.”

 _Of course, her first story would be at the one place she hated more than her office._ “Of course sir, I won’t let you down. “

* * *

 “Hi Selah!” The petite red head said from behind the secretary desk. Selah smiled at the girl in return and approached her with ease, sliding her ID across the glass counter.

“Hey, I was hoping to speak with Director Fury regarding something that happened a few days ago? I see that _something_ went through the roof, the Tribune want’s more news on it.” The woman scanned her badge and began printing off a visitor nametag for Selah as Selah glanced up to the ceiling.

“Director Fury? Oh- you haven’t heard- he’s out on medical leave for an unexpected amount of time. I might be able to get you in touch with Director Pierce,  
I know he’s always looking for a good way to get into the papers, between you and me.” She winked at Selah and began typing at her keyboard.

“That’d be great. Let Fury know I said hi, yeah? And that I finally hadn’t come to bother one of his hero’s for some stupid interview.”

The girl laughed, continuing to type, “Of course. He’ll be proud. You can head on up. Thirty-fourth floor. Office 209. He’ll be seeing you in about ten minutes.”

“You’re the best! Let’s get coffee sometime, yeah?” The girl nodded as Selah walked off.

“Definitely! Call me!”

* * *

 “Director Pierce?” Selah knocked gently on the man’s office door, the glass creating an odd sound, “Your secretary said I could come in?”

“Miss Tripe! Hello! Pleasure to see you today. Lovely Tuesday, isn’t it?” The man standing near the farthest wall, staring out to the water, stood with his legs apart, his dark grey suit stretched across his back.

“Oh, it’s beautiful outside. Of course you know that though, your office is basically just a giant window. Must be a beautiful sight to see during dusk.”

Director Pierce laughed and began to poor her a glass of water, “That it is. Now, Nancy told me you had a few questions regarding the incident that occurred here a few days ago?” He glanced over his shoulder and upon noticing Selah had her head down, dropped two blue pills into the cup, watching with a slick smile as they dissolved without a trace.

Selah nodded in response and pulled out her tablet, preparing a document to begin taking notes on, “May I record this interview? I want to make sure I get everything right for the article.”

The man smiled and nodded, “Of course.” He slid the cup across the table towards the girl, “Please, take a sip, it’s shipped here straight from Hawaii.”

Selah laughed, but took a sip of water to be polite. “Great- so, Director Pierce, can you explain in your own words, what was the incident that occurred here at the Triskelion on Sunday?” Selah punched the record button on her iPad and prepared herself as best as she could to begin typing.

“Well, Captain Rogers went rogue. Simply put.” Selah’s head snapped up in response.

“He went _rogue?_ What do you mean by that?”

“Well, there were quite a few agents in the elevator with him at the time, minding their own business, and something seemed to just click in his head. Next minute, there are ten agents knocked out, with various injuries. He’d then gone ahead and, instead of using the doors like a normal human, jumped out the window. We aren’t quite sure what caused it, but we know that it was unusual for him. I’d recommend the common civilian stay away from Captain Rogers. The farther, the better.”

Selah’s fingers paused over her keyboard, not wanting to finish the sentence that she had just typed, “So- you’re saying that Captain Rogers has gone from hero to-“

“Enemy. Yes.”

She shook her head and continued typing, only pausing momentarily to take a sip of the water that the director had provided her. With her eyes facing downward, she missed the Director watching her actions closely, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

“Some say they saw a S.H.I.E.L.D jet go down just the other day too, any statements in regards to that?”

“Just training a new agent. He hasn’t quite earned his wings just yet.” The director winked at the girl.

“One last question, if you don’t mind, just to clarify, should the general public remain away from _just_ Rogers, or _all_ of the agents here?”

“For now, we are simply marking Captain Rogers as rouge one. When we gain more intel on the rest of the Avengers team, I will be sure to let you and the D.C. Tribune know.”

Selah finished off her water and stood, glancing down to her watch momentarily, “Would you mind if I grabbed a few quick pictures of the damage? I see that the repairs have already begun, but I know our readers are interested in gaining a view on what it looks like inside here. It’d be good publicity.” She smiled and slipped her tablet into her bag.

“Of course, I’ll have Nancy take you to the scene. Have a good day now, Selah, okay?”

She reached a small, tender hand out to the director, “Of course, sir.”

“See you soon,” was the last thing she heard from him, her head turning to shoot a curious look at the man, but got nothing but the view of him making a phone call, jabbing his fingers on his phone as quickly as he could.

* * *

 Later that day, after she had returned to her office and packed up the remainder of her belongings, Selah headed to the teashop just miles away from her own home. Tea Strings was nestled in the middle of two large department stores, blocked off with a black iron fence and six small, round tables that sat just outside the front door. The atmosphere was always warm and tender, the people had continuously been wonderful to her, and the free croissants were _always_ a nice perk.

Selah parked herself at her typical seat, unpacked her belongings with ease, and prepped herself for a nice, long writing session. The waiter stopped by a few moments later, holding her regular order - a cup of blueberry tea and a chocolate chip croissant.

“Thanks, Jim. You always know the way to a girl’s heart,” she smiled up at the teenager, “Tell your mom I said hi, yeah? Let her know that my mom’s got her oranges at the house when she’s ready to come get them.”

“Oh definitely, Miss Tripe, I’ll be sure to!” She slid him a ten dollar bill and winked.

“Buy yourself a new comic, yeah?” He flushed red and scurried away, leaving Selah to herself.

She sipped her tea and hummed, getting to work on her first _real_ new story. _Maybe things are starting to finally look up._

* * *

 “Cap-“Natasha paused at the look on his face, “we need to eliminate the threat before it gets out of hand. You flew through a damn window two days ago, this has gone way too far,” She cracked her knuckles and scratched out the scrawl on the paper in front of her, “This is much bigger than what we thought, you realize that, don’t you? This is worse than Loki- worse than the threat of the Tesseract, this power is-“

“Don’t say it, Nat,” Steve looked at Natasha with such ferocity that her mouth closed into a tight, thin line.

“If Hydra rises again- although I’m still unsure if that is _actually_ possible, as our source isn’t exactly the most trustworthy at the moment,” Steve shot a look in the direction of the metal door to the left of him, “this could mean the end to humanity as we’ve known it thus far. If they’re planning to do more- to create more like the Winter Solider- an army of them- each with strength and unlimited power, then we- humanity- will truly be done.” She looked at Steve, the crease between her brows growing deeper and deeper as each moment passed.

“I mean the paper work we found- _Hydra Fertility-_ it all points to yes. The story is right here. There could be _millions_ just waiting to be activated. Waiting to start a _war,_ Cap.”

“Then we need to take out the first Soldier- we don’t know how they create them- whether they’re induced with a serum similar to mine- or something worse- eliminate the first, destroy the plans for the rest. Or destroy as much as we can- the activating agent- and then hope for the best.” Steve stood and walked around the table, his arms folding across his chest as he stared out of the large window at the back of the room. “If Hydra is involved- it can’t be a good sign. Whether it’s true or not.”

A heavy pause lingered in the air, still and silent. Natasha was tapping quickly at something on the screen in front of her, pinching and pulling every bit of information she could to prepare to send to the rest of the Avengers. Steve looked away, not interested in trying to understand the technology of this century.

“Should we call in the Avengers?” Nat looked in Steve’s direction, an eyebrow lifted high in question. Her finger hovered over the send button.

“Don’t- let’s hold off doing _that_ until we get a little closer to figuring out exactly what’s happening. If we just need to eliminate the Winter Solider, that’s something _we_ can do. No need to get Stark involved in this- he’ll just make everything worse and… complex.” Cap rolled his eyes, “if we must call in them- we will, but let’s analyze the threat first.”

Natasha nodded at his words, her fingers grabbing the small, glass tablet in front of her. Using two fingers, she swept the information from the screen before her, onto the tablet. Natasha stood from her place, swiveled on her heel and took four long strides towards the metal door. “Well, let’s go get em’, Cap. Suit up. No time to waste,”

Natasha’s red hair and the click-click of her heels was the last thing Steve saw as she left.

* * *

It was nearly three PM by the time Selah had even begun to make leeway on her story. She had become so accustomed to writing quick, easy articles of nothing worth reading, that when she finally had the chance to change someone’s real opinion, Selah had somehow forgotten how to write what she wanted to.

She sighed softly to herself after reading the words on the page a few more times, “I just- can’t get this _right.”_

“Selah? Here’s another cup, and some water- just in case you-“ She smiled up at the boy, her mouth open to give the teenager a quick thank you, but was interrupted by the squealing of tires and the blaring of a bus horn from down the road.

“What-“She was pulled up and out of her chair by the teenage soon after that, only getting a momentary glance down the road at the overturned bus.

“Selah- come inside, trust me, there’s been a lot of shit going on in the city, you don’t want to get pulled into it,” Selah yanked her arm away from the waiter, the people outside starting to crowd into the small teashop, preventing her from being able to get back outside to grab her computer.

“Oh my _god!_ It’s Captain America!” She glanced at the woman next to her, just barely missing the bolt of blue that had dashed by the window.

Selah pushed through the remaining people blocking her from getting out, “Excuse me-“

Selah stepped out from the interior of the teashop, “No! Don’t! Captain America is here! Stay inside! It’s no good out! Can’t you tell? There’s something _wrong!_ ” A harsh warning came from behind her, a weathered voice warning her to be _safe_ , but Selah ignored it with haste and continued through the crowd. She paused momentarily next to her belongings, only to continue moving into the middle of the street, her heels crunching against the gravel as she walked.

Selah lifted a hand to shade the mid-afternoon sun from her eyes. Half a mile down the road, she could see a C-line bus turned onto its side, smoke billowing up as people poured out of whatever window was most available to them. She placed a hand on her quickly beating heart, worry crossing across her face. Selah moved towards the commotion but halted when a round of fast paced gunshots echoed down the street. Selah glanced back towards her things at the teashop, “I should grab a notepad-“

She hustled back to her things, quickly located a notepad, and slid between a variety of cars on her way back towards the scene at the end of the road. A child’s terrified scream sounded from behind her, but she kept on, her eyes narrowing to catch a better, clearer glimpse of the action.

A man stood on the top of the bridge, crouched and aiming a gun at the men in black below him, “Go- Cap, I’ve got them, get _him!”_ The man’s words were rushed, and while Selah wasn’t sure if she caught them _correctly,_ she jotted them down. A cop car blew by her, the wind causing her ice-blonde hair to whip around her face, _bang, bang, bang._ Selah stepped backwards just as the car was fired at, sending it into a ball of flames.

As the smoke cleared, Selah caught sight of the _enemy_ just has he leapt over the bridge to the car below, the weight of his body crushing the top of the automobile. He was tall, dark, and from what she could tell, _handsome._ Decked out in all black, aside from a shiny silver arm, the man walked with power- straight and tall. His face was partially covered by a mask, but his eyes were visible, yet void of any emotion. He held a grenade launcher in one hand, grabbing for more ammunition from the belt around his waist. He didn’t bother to glance in Selah’s direction, instead choosing to reload the launcher and continue with a leisurely gait down the road.

Selah followed him, hiding behind vehicles, jotting down as much information as she could without losing sight of what was happening. The adrenaline that had begun to course through her body was electric, causing her arms and legs to begin to pulse with a feeling she couldn’t quite place.

The gunfire started once more, the soldier swapping his grenade launcher for something with more rounds. The sudden commotion caught Selah off guard, causing her to stumble as she walked, her ankle twisting as her heel got caught in a divot in the road. Selah’s head caught the mirror of car next to her as she crumbled to the ground in a heap of pain. Her vision had become blurry after that, but she could just barely make out the slow moving, black form as it continued down the road from her.

The people in the shops around the area had started to scramble like ants running from a hose. Selah kicked her heels off with haste, not wanting another fall to happen as her flight instincts began to kick in. The sound of gunfire grew closer to her, and just as she began to pull her hair up in a high pony, a pair of black boots stopped right in front of her. Selah glanced up, her eyes meeting steel grey ones, fear tumbling through her stomach as she attempted to scoot away from the man

“Stand up,” he growled. His voice was raspy, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time, “Take this and move,” He pushed the butt of his handgun into her chest, “There’s a black SUV around the corner. It’s waiting for you. Don’t attempt to fight, don’t attempt to stop anyone, and do _not_ run. They will find you if you do. Do not trust your instincts right now.” He grabbed her arm and yanked her up, Selah’s vision going white.

“You expect me to just be okay with a stranger handing me a gun and telling me to get into a bla-“ He covered her mouth with a black gloved hand, and Selah wondered momentarily if this was the one connected to the silver arm.

“Yes- now _go_ before you cause us any more problems,” the man’s hair fluttered in the wind. She shook her head in disbelief of what she had just heard. The man turned from her and ran back towards where Captain Rogers was diligently searching for him.

“You’re insane if you think I’m going to listen to you,” Selah mumbled, turning to walk in the opposite direction of the van and the mysterious man, the gun still clutched in her hand.

It didn’t take long for Captain America to catch sight of the man in black once more, and once he had, he darted down the street, zipping through cars and the few scared pedestrians that still lingered on the streets. As he approached the man in black, Selah turned just in time to catch the man with the silver arm land two swift punches to the Captain’s chest before giving the superhero a swift roundhouse kick to the head.

The Captain fell in one movement, his arms clutching his stomach in pain. Selah moved out from the car that she had ducked behind to get a better view as the man with the silver arm continued on his hunt. He caulked his gun, the click of the it sending a chill down her spine.

At this angle, Selah could get a better look at the man, at this. The silver arm seemed to be more than just armor, contrary to what she first believed. It was peculiar to see the way it worked, the slats of the metal contracting as if they _were_ apart of his arm. The man’s head tilted down as he walked forward, his eyes glaring at the end of the street. People continued to run around him, but he paid no attention to them. He knelt and grabbed something from a pouch on his back, which he rolled across the ground. He stood slowly and took three steps backward, just in time for the car in front of him to blow to pieces, sending a fiery cloud of smoke billowing into the air.

“Holy shit,” Selah whispered to herself, her eyes not believing what she was seeing.

The man had been so focused on the explosion, at his attempt to kill whatever had caught his attention, that he didn’t see a streak of black- Black Widow, as Selah quickly figured out- round the corner and pounce on him. She wrapped her legs quick and tight around the man’s head, just long enough to pull a wire strong enough to choke the man out. They began to struggle against one another, Black Widow getting just a moment’s upper hand as she slammed an electromagnetically charged pad to the Soldier’s arm. The man’s arm seized for a moment, a moment too long, which both he _and_ Selah were quick to realize.

Selah didn’t have a chance to think about what was right or wrong as she raised her gun and fired two shots directly at the woman’s back. While one missed, the second one landed right into the assassin’s shoulder. The woman fell to the floor behind a blue Sedan, not far from where Selah had kicked off her heels.

Selah’s gun dropped to the ground as realization hit her, the metal sounding hollow as it struck cement. The world stilled for a moment as her eyes caught the man with the silver arm, his own quickly narrowing as he shook his head back and forth in a disapproving manor.

* * *

 “Cap,” Natasha mumbled, her finger pressed against her earpiece, “I’m hit- I can’t- It was a girl, I’ve never seen her before. Blonde hair, red shirt, black skirt, don’t let them tag team you. Looks like they might be working together.”

“You think it’s one of the Fertility Clinic people?”

“No- we haven’t received any intel that they’ve started to activate that. Looks like she was undercover, knew this whole thing was going down.” Natasha held her shoulder close, the bullet hole stinging with pain at every movement she made.

* * *

 It hadn’t been apparent to Selah at that time that she should be paying more attention to her surroundings and less to what she had just overheard the Black Widow say. Before she had a chance to take in what had happened, a large piece of scrap metal was flung in her direction.

Selah didn’t have a chance to react before she was on the ground, the bar laying heavy against her right arm, pinning her to the concrete. She screamed, the realization that she couldn’t feel the pain terrifying her more than anything else. The weight of the steel pressed down harder and harder as every moment passed, slicing her arm deeper and deeper, not only causing blood to pool below her arm, but caused her skin peeled back to reveal muscle. Selah refused to look at it, knowing that if she did, there would be more than just blood on the ground next to her.

It was just a moment after that that another grenade went off, this one being closer than the rest to her. Shards of glass and rubble tumbled towards her from the blast, but Selah lay trapped and defenseless.

Her head lulled to the side, a chunk of concrete slamming into her temple and busting open her smooth skin. Selah’s eyes remained open just long enough to steal a glance at the man in black, who was now approaching her with fervor, his lips in a flat line.

* * *

 The funny thing about losing all feeling in any part of your body, Selah realized, was that it was more terrifying to see her bloody arm dangling limply at her side than not being able to feel it at all.

The world had blurred from the moment she was lifted from the rubble, her head much too heavy for her to support on her own. The blonde clenched her eyes tight, using her one good arm to hold herself closer to the man that carried her, only just barely attempting to keep herself from trembling in both shock and pain.

“Wh’r am I?” She received no response, but was instead placed on the backseat of a black SUV. She was quick to pass out as her head hit the plush leather, not feeling a shot injected into her damaged arm before the door closed behind her

* * *

 The first thing that the Winter Soldier had realized when he had arrived in D.C. was that it was gloriously dull. He, of course, didn’t care much either way. He was here for one purpose and one alone, to claim his new partner.

When he arrived, he had only been granted a few hours of rest before Director Pierce had requested a visit at home, knowing before he even entered that this would be more than just a rescue mission.

“You see,” the director had said, while the Soldier had sat solemnly in the corner of the man’s dining room, “I know that you’re against getting a- well- an assistant, and I know that you resent me for it, but we’ve got a bigger issue here. Yes- you’re still expected to get the girl, as she’s already been activated and is now just _waiting_ to be pulled, but we’ve recently acquired some communication that has informed us that Project Insight has thus been compromised. Captain America and his goon squad have already attempted _twice_ to shut us down. I want him down and out by 1200. No later. No negotiations.”

The solider had simply nodded, knowing that he didn’t have the option to disagree.

* * *

 So there he sat, at 1:02PM, in a black SUV with Captain America no closer to being dead and his assistant with one less arm. The irony nearly had him smiling.

_Nearly._

He took a moment to look her over, somewhat surprised at how vastly different she appeared than what had been described in her profile. She was- in every term of the word- opposite of himself.

While he was all muscle and height, with thick brown hair and light grey eyes, she was small and held the curves of a woman, closer to being overweight than skinny, with ice-blonde hair, and if he remembered from when he saw her earlier, boring brown eyes.

The driver jerked to a stop, causing the girl to roll onto her damaged arm. When she didn’t wake, nor hiss in pain, he quickly realized that she would soon be like him, half bionic, half super-assassin. The Winter Solider readjusted the girl with care and folded her limp arm across her chest.

He continued to stare at the girl, just long enough for him to reach a gentle hand out to stroke a thumb against her cheek, brushing off a bit of gravel from where it lay. She seemed too gentle to be an assassin. The girl relaxed at his touch and he snorted out a laugh, if only she knew what she had just been forced into.

“Congratulations,” he mumbled, “You’ve just joined the Solider Initiative.” The Solider shut his eyes to catch a wink of sleep before arriving at Hydra’s U.S. agency.

* * *

 Just as he began to fall asleep, the Winter Soldier was yanked from his spot, which, he’ll admit is not the best thing to do to the top assassin in the world. He responded off instinct, his fist landing two quick punches to the men in the suits. “Soldier! Stand down,” the voice caused a shock to run through his spine, he stood and forced his eyes to remain forward, not looking at the doctor as he approached him from behind.

“Sir- they-“

“No need for a response, I saw what happened. We warned them to not jump at you, as your adrenaline is still running strong,” with care, the doctor lifted the Soldier’s metal arm, “Electromagnetic shock? God-“ he tisked, poking at the damaged circuit gently, “They did a number on your arm, didn’t they? Did you get the girl?”

“She’s in the back. She’s hurt- badly, but I-“ The doctor sighed softly.

“She got caught in the crossfire? Dammit, I _told_ Pierce to not start this fight until you had gotten her. I _knew_ something was going to go wrong.” The doctor motioned for the guards to grab the girl, “How bad is it?”

“Don’t think she can feel her right arm. The man- the one in blue- threw a chunk of scrap metal at her when she fired at Romanov, took her down and nearly knocked her out. Don’t know if it’ll be reversible.” The doctor shook his head in response, watching with careful eyes as the girl was pulled from the backseat.

“Fired at Romanov, hmm? Girl’s got balls, hopefully that means the serum worked-“

“With all due respect, Arvin, I don’t think it did. At least not to the extent you were hoping when I read her file. She was one of the first to undergo treatment, was she not?”

“Her mother, yes,” The doctor led the Soldier into the building in front of them. It stood hidden on a mountain cliff, unnoticeable by the common eye.

“She’s the first you’ve activated?”

“The first successful activation, although, we’re going to have to do something about her arm,” the doctor sat the Soldier down in a seat in the middle of a room, one that he had become accustomed to some time ago. The seat had always made him tense. “We’ll work on yours first. Gentlemen, set her down over there,” the guards dropped her on the floor, causing the Winter Solider to growl in response.

“Be _careful!_ Fucks-sake, she’s a girl and she’s _hurt,_ have some fucking _respect,”_ The Soldier was slammed back into his seat; two metal cuffs were then slid over his wrists to keep him in place.

“Shush, Soldier. We will see to it that she is taken care of. The director will be in in less than five minutes, get your anger under control _now_ or worse things will happen than your partner loosing a limb, got it?” The doctor sealed the Soldier’s arm, only to be punched in the face just moments later, his mind tormented by the new knowledge of him _knowing_ someone outside of this room and his partner laying unconscious in a corner.

The gate to the cell was slammed open to reveal none other than Director Pierce. He pushed through the guards without any care and bent down to eye level with the Winter Soldier, “Mission Report.”

The Winter Soldier wasn’t dumb, he knew what the man wanted, and he could hear him loud and clear, but with his thoughts being as jumbled as they were, he couldn’t pull himself from wondering about the man on the bridge and why he had seemed so surprised- as if he had _known_ him- when the Soldier’s mask was ripped from his face. His eyes avoided those of the director to glance to the corner of the room, where a nurse was now attending to his partner. She helped to lean her upwards as the girl began to come to, her eyes just barely open.

“I said- _mission report,”_ the director growled once more at the Soldier. He gave but a two seconds chance for the man to reply before he slammed the palm of his hand across the assassin’s cheek.

“The man-“ the Soldier mumbled, “I _knew him._ Didn’t I?”

“You saw him earlier this week on another mission.”

“But- I _knew_ him.”

The director looked quickly over his shoulder at the doctor standing behind him who stood with crossed arms, “What’s the meaning of-“

“Sir, he’s been out of Cryo-freeze for too long. He’s- he’s starting to remember things.”

“Wipe him.” The director stood and stepped back, “Start over.”

“But sir-“

“That’s an order.”

The doctor didn’t hesitate to step forward, his long, lithe fingers grabbing the mouth guard from the table next to the Soldier’s chair, “I’m sorry. I told you to listen,” he mumbled, but the Soldier ignored him.

The machine that the Soldier had been sitting in whirled to life moments later, the barriers that held his arms tightened down as an electric current began to pulse through his body. He had done this before, but it was no easier one time after the next. As the clamps closed around his head, the Soldier’s body began to seize, his chest heaving with every scream of pain he let out. He was conscious, he had to be, but he couldn’t focus on anything but the pain and he didn’t notice as the memories of Captain Rogers were swept out of his head without a trace.

It had only taken one pained scream for Selah to fully wake up, her eyes shooting open. “What’s-“ she moved out of the nurses grasp, struggling to stand up, “What are you _doing! Stop!”_ She stumbled across the work room, the nurse and doctors leaning forward to catch the girl.

“Leave her,” the director had glanced back in, “let her witness this. She will need to learn her place like he has. Once he’s done, take care of her, we want her to start fresh. No memories of her past life, understood?” The lead doctor, Doctor Arvin, nodded in response.

“Let her go, men,” they let the girl fall once more, this time, landing at the Soldier’s feet. He continued to scream in anguish, Selah’s heart constricted as the power of the chair seemed to peak. She understood, even in her haze, that she could not rescue the man. She was not powerful enough; she was not physically strong enough to turn the machine off. So instead, Selah did what she had always done best, _showed compassion._

Her small, thin hand came to rest on the man’s ankle, her thumb stroking small circles as a few tears fell from her cheeks and onto the cement below. “It’s almost over-“ she mumbled, “I think- I- I hope it is.” Selah’s head fell to the man’s knee, her eyes clenched shut as he continued to scream in terror. That moment seemed to last forever, with five doctors watching and a few nurses, the director standing behind bars and Selah huddled at the feet of her rescuer.

It became apparent that the treatment had finished as the Soldier’s body had started to calm, his breathing returned to normal and his screaming reduced to slight moans. Selah stood in front of him, finally getting the chance to take in his full appearance. It became quickly apparent that this man had been in this business for a long time, that he had become accustomed to these treatments and whatever else seemed to occur. The man had gone cross-eyed just moments before he passed out in the chair, the backlash of the pain being just too much and finally pushing him over the edge.

Tears had continued to spill from Selah’s eyes, but anger had begun to grow in her heart. She spun on her heel to face the men in the room, her good fist clenching, “What did you do to him?”

“Selah- mam, please calm down,” Doctor Arvin said gently.

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? He did nothing wrong. He _saved_ my life and you repay him by _torture._ ”

“Arvin! Eliminate the threat. _Now.”_ The director demanded, his fists clenching on the bars he stood behind.

“Sir- this is- the agent has started to activate. It needs to run its course. We should be leaving- for the safety-“

“Leaving?” Selah cut him off and stepped forward, her good hand grabbed the doctor by the collar of his white jacket, “Oh, I don’t think so _Doctor.”_ She pushed him back, slamming him into a row of surgical tools. She took quick notice to the guards around her that had begun to move in, holding guns and Tasers. “Oh, so we’re going to play _that_ game, are we?” Her laugh echoed through the room as the men stilled.

“Mam, you need to-“ a guard to her right spoke, but before he had a chance to finish, Selah had already begun to move, landing a swift punch to his jaw, knocking him out cold.

“Guards- lower your weapons. She’s begun to peak. Her muscles- her body fat, it’s finally catching on. We need to get her into surgery now for her new arm. Doctor Julian- prepare the bionics lab. We need to get a new arm casted _now._ Quickly. Pull from the Soldier’s equipment if you need to. She will be his equal in every way. Quickly! Before she blacks out.”

Selah, at that point, had gone on a rampage. Even with one arm, she was able to take down half of the guards in the room, using energy and man power that she hadn’t known she held within herself.

“Doctor Michael! Prep the serum. Two doses. One before surgery and one after.” Doctor Arvin continued to bark out orders, his voice echoing over the sounds of flesh meeting flesh.

The Soldier had begun to come to, his eyes half lidded as he watched five guards barrel towards his partner while her back was turned, “ _don’t-“_ he murmured, his voice unheard over the noise.

The doctor glanced at the Soldier and lifted an eyebrow as they made contact, “Don’t hurt her, Arvin. Okay?” This had been, the doctor figured, the first time the Soldier had ever felt anything close to a real human emotion. He had known for some time now that with the Soldier being out of Cryo-Freeze and the unperfected serum he had been injected with over seventy years ago, that a man with feelings and compassion would rear it’s head out of the Soldier every now and then.

“Michael- make that three doses. We need to get some pumped into the Winter Soldier.” The doctor turned from the Soldier, but not before he whispered harshly, “Soldier, you must not show that you care for this girl, for the moment that you do- the moment that the Director even notices _somewhat_ of a desire to keep her safe, Director Pierce will have her eliminated and you will be assigned a new task.”

The Soldier struggled against his constraints as Selah was taken down, her head hitting the ground hard, a large ‘Crack’ reverberating off the walls.

“Take Hydra down first and Pierce may grant you some semblance of a normal life once more.”

His eyes traveled with the girl as she was dragged out of the room, “I have not grown fond of her. She is my partner and I am to protect her. I expect you to provide her with the same care and necessities that I, myself, have been granted with in the past when I have come back injured. I do not want to activate another Fertile if it is not needed.”

“Nor do I, Soldier, we have already begun to prep the molding process. You two will be one.”

The Soldier narrowed his eyes at Doctor Arvin, “I expect to assist in everything regarding her and this organization from here on out. She will go under _my_ rule, not yours, nor the Directors. She will abide by the role that _I_ provide her with during missions and you will not be wired into her to provide her with commands. If she attacks the guards- you must see it as a form of self defense. She will become a very sought after woman within the next few days and weeks. I could see it in some of the guards eyes as soon as they knocked her out, if they lay _one_ hand on her after this, they will have to deal with _me_ and her, and I sure as _hell_ don’t think that they want to be dealing with _two_ bionic arms, correct?”

It took Doctor Arvin by surprise at how much the Winter Soldier had been speaking. He nodded in response to the Soldier’s demands, “Tall demands from someone who can’t even make his own decisions, don’t you think?”

The Soldier yanked against the restraints once more, finally gaining enough power behind his struggles to break through them with ease, “Doctor,” he growled, “You know as well as I do that I am _much_ stronger than what your fancy director believes. Now, I _expect_ my demands to be followed through on your orders. Understand?”

The doctor narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms against his chest. He paused for a moment, but nodded his head, “Of course, Soldier. I will make sure to inform the Director of my new requirements for you and our newest asset.”

The Soldier clapped him on the shoulder with his metal hand, intentionally squeezing just hard enough to give the doctor a bruise, “That’s what I thought. _Now,_ take me to the operation room. “ He raised an eyebrow, daring the doctor to challenge his order, and motioned him forward, “After you, _sir.”_

* * *

 Watching Selah- or so her file had said her birth-given name was- undergo the same treatment that he had received decades ago was both so terrifying and interesting that the Soldier could not pull his eyes away. Each piece of metal had been laid together individually, clicking together like a carefully crafted puzzle made _distinctly_ for her. He flexed his arm out of habit, the metal sliding together like a well-oiled machine.

She had been in operation for nearly three hours before Doctor Arvin had deemed her surgery to be both complete and successful. They had woken her up halfway through her procedure to test the arm, and she- like himself- had choked out a guard in her haze-filled slumber, her mind not registering the strength that she now had.

The Winter Soldier was let into Selah’s operating room for a few moments of peace with the girl, his eyes scanning over her body with both interest and wonder. While the serum had made his body hard and strong, it had seemingly made hers soft and filled out her curves, something that he had not expected. She seemed more _human_ than he did, as if maybe she wasn’t meant to be _fighting_ anyone, but had been created for a bigger purpose.

He took in his apprentice’s appearance. She was little, no bigger than 5’1”, with a waist like an hour glass and a heart shaped face framed by white-blonde hair. A stark contrast to the Winter Solider, he noticed. He remembered her eyes being brown, before the enhancements, but had been briefed that she had undergone many modifications, including the change of eye color to help normalize her. Some of which _he_ wouldn’t even have access to, considering the age of technology in both of them.

The door to the room clicked open to reveal Doctor Arvin with a smile on his face, his slick, greasy hair shining under the dull lights, a clipboard tucked up tight under his armpit. His hands came together in a slow clap, “Very good, gentlemen- Soldier- looks like you’ve chosen a good first recruit. She’ll be a good sidekick.” His laugh cut the tension in the room, “Vitals look good. Arm appears to be healing nicely. Will someone get me the Electromagnetic driver? I need to check a few things- Solider-“ the Winter Soldier’s head snapped up from where he had been looking at her legs, glancing at the man, “Your arm still okay? We’ll probably need to send you back under to the chair for another treatment, you understand, yes?” The Soldier gave him a curt nod and went back to staring blankly at the girl before him. Her eyes fluttered as she slept, but he didn’t wonder why she had done what she had. It was in a soldier’s blood to know when and where to choose sides. She had chosen hers. Whether it had been the activation agent or not, the girl had chosen without any assistance from himself.

As the Winter Solider had come to know Doctor Arvin and the rest of the team, not that he had much of a choice, he head learned to put a few things together about them. One- Doctor Arvin was _not_ running this mission, he simply pushed buttons, did a few magic tricks, and made things look sparkly and shiny for the guys who _really_ ran the show. Two- no one _really_ knew what was going on here, aside from the fact that he was with Hydra and he was designed to _go, find, kill._ As long as he did that, he’d live to see another hell-filled day. Last, was simply that learning to comply, being ready to comply, and understanding what the word meant was _everything_ to the men and women that stood in this room.

A true solider, as the Winter Solider had learned, was one that _knew_ what the word meant, but complied with his own circumstances. In time, he would teach his apprentice those rules too- outside of these walls.

Their one similarity, as it stood, was their metal arms. Hers was on the right, thin and long, feminine, yet powerful. His eyes traced the three deep blue stripes on the woman’s shoulder, curious as to the meaning.

The Winter Solider was pulled out if his thoughts at Doctor Arvin’s words, “Put her in Cryo… she needs to go down before we can take her out for her first run. Thirty-six hours at the most. She’ll start word training as soon as she first wakes up. We’ve already set up a set of them for her,” he glanced at the Winter Soldier before handing him a small, blue book, “they are on page five. You will be in charge of this, as you know that as soon as she’s activated, she will be _mission_ ready.” The Soldier nodded in response and took the book with one hand, tucking it quickly into his back pocket.

The doctor clapped the Solider on his shoulder as he walked towards the door at the far side of the room “Honestly, you did good choosing her. Not sure _why_ her, as her mother was certainly not the best candidate for the Fertility Trials and she certainly does not play the part of master assassin, but I have faith that she’ll pull through.” The Winter Solider nodded, “Peculiar, though, that she had simply acted without much hesitation, wasn’t it? Anywho-” The doctor trailed off, “You’re expected at the chair at 0800 hours. Do not be late, Solider.”

“Of course, sir,” The Winter Solider paused, his facial expressions flat, “What will you call her?” They both looked in the direction of the girl’s chamber, where the freezing process had already begun, her fair skin glowing in the green hue of the tank, her blonde hair spread out like a halo around her.

“According to our records, her name is Selah Tripe. 5’ 2”, average weight, muscle mass could be worked on-“ the doctor paused, “She worked as a full-time news reporter in D.C. Right across from the Shield building, actually.” The Solider perked up, “You’re telling me-“ He snatched the clipboard from the doctor, “That this _girl_ was able to take down _Natasha Romanov_ with three bullets and all she did was write _newspaper articles?”_ The doctor shrugged, “Give her three months… _tops_ , you’ll make a soldier out of her yet.”

Doctor Arvin ripped off a strand of duck tape and slapped it to the wall beneath where the girl’s clipboard lay. He uncapped the sharpie that was clipped to the girl’s files _.  
_

_S. Tripe_

“The name is yours to choose, Solider. As we have said many times- we want _you_ to make this girl our next lead asset. You are to train her, mold her, create something beautiful out of her, as Zolo did to you. We have already begun to design her first mission,” The doctor looked directly at him; “Think about her as something different from yourself. You are muscle. Power. Strength. According to the girl’s records, she graduated from Northwestern with a 3.9 GPA, top of her class, mentally unstoppable as it seems. She blends in. You may want to look at her angle as being something more…” the doctor paused and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “undercover. If you know what I mean.”

The Winter Solider scratched at his cheek, slightly stubbled from the past three days at work, “You mean to tell me, that I am training an undercover assassin, someone you aren’t even thinking about putting into battle- what _good_ does that do _me?”_

“Well, you see, Mister Solider-“ The doctor stepped up to him, “We plan to infiltrate…“

The Solider stopped him in mid sentence, “No disrespect, _Sir,_ but we’ve already infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“If you had _stopped_ and _listened_ to me,” The doctor glared, “then you would know that I was going to say the _media._ We already have them halfway there, as more and more women and families have started using Hydra Fertility to bring their families to life, and to help further our chances of world domination, should Project Insight fall through. Miss Tripe may just be what we need to push them even further, as she, right now, is the face of the Fertility Trials. You’ve spent too much time away from Cryo- your head is starting to float. We’re moving your 8:00 appointment in the chair to a half-hour from now. Do not be late.”

The doctor marched out of the room without another pause.

The Winter Solider walked up to the girl’s Cryo chamber, only taking his eyes away from the girl for a moment to look at the tape once more. His eyes bounced between the name and her arm, the blue stripes turning green under the yellow light of the tank. A rare grin unfolded on the Soldier’s face. He touched the cold glass with his own metal hand, a bond forming between them instantly, though she had yet to know of it, “Training starts in two days, _Stripes_.”


End file.
